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Metastatic Breast Cancer: My mom wants to live! Her commitment made her well.

About 5 years ago, RR – a 70-year-old Indonesian lady found a lump in her right breast. She did not consult any doctor. She opted for Chinese sinseh who prescribed her herbs. She was on his herbs for about 2 years. The lump grew bigger but there was no laceration.

In 2014, RR went to see a doctor because the lump in her breast became painful. A bone scan showed the cancer had already spread to her bones. RR decided to continue taking herbs and did not want any medical treatment.

In July 2015, RR consulted the doctor again. She was again told to do a biopsy but she refused. She did not want to go for chemotherapy either. The doctor prescribed Femara which she agreed to take. In fact RR has been taking Femara and Aromasin alternately since July 2015 until now.

This hormonal oral drug seemed to help her. Her CA 15.3 dropped from 255 to 28 (in August 2016). Unfortunately this reduction of CA 15.3 did not last long. In September 2017, her CA 15.5 increased to 59.

Along the way, RR suffered a fracture at the base of her neck, involving C3 and C4 vertebrae. She had an operation and the problem was resolved.

In July 2017, a PET scan showed the metastasis in her lungs was getting worse. Earlier on in February 2016, the doctor told her that there were small nodules in her liver. Now with this PET the nodules in her liver were bigger. The tumours in Segment 8 was 28 cm (previously 2 cm) and 1.2 cm in size. The mass in Segment 7 was 1.3 cm.

The lump in RR’s right breast was still there — not removed. Now, the nipple in her left breast was retracted.

She has to take a lot of herbs! Any problem? The first month she had difficulty getting used to the bitter taste and awful smell. But now there is no problem. She got used to it. So taking the herbs is no more a problem.

Her breathing was difficult. What happen now? Before taking the herbs there was fluid in her lungs. This make her difficult to breath. The fluid was tapped out. Then one month after taking the herbs, another tapping was done. After that she is okay. Now, she can breathe normally. She seems to get better.

Any problem with her breasts? The initial problem was with her right breast. Now, the nipple of left right was retracted. No sign that the herbs help in this aspect.

Any pain? No pain, even before taking the herbs.

Before the appetite was not good. Better now? Yes. Before taking your herbs the food had no taste and she felt nauseous all day. Now, her appetite has improved. She can eat twice the amount of food. No more nausea. This is indeed a good improvement for her.

What about the swelling in her neck? No visible improvement. It is not getting smaller or bigger. The same.

You said she had cold sweat? Before the herbs, she felt cold and then produced sweat. This happened anytime — day or night. She just felt miserable — not well. Now, this problem is gone after the herbs.

Over all is she getting better after taking the herbs? Yes, better. She is normal.

Have you gone back to see the doctor — may be undergo chemo? No, chemo is never our choice since the very beginning.

Are you satisfied with your mom’s progress? What else do you want? Yes, we are happy. We hope this can be just maintained this way and not getting worse.

Comments

I salute RR for her commitment and determination. Before our therapy, she was not following a healthy diet. She felt nauseous and did not eat well. But after her son saw us, she kept to her healthy diet — cooked the way we taught out patients in my wife’s Healthy Cooking book. She did not complain about her food.

The herbal teas are bitter with awful smell. RR took about a month to get used to the taste. After that she has no problem taking our herbal teas.

The kiasu patients are different. They wanted to eat whatever they like. Some would even tell us that they rather die than stick to our diet recommendation. At our centre, the main problem we face is telling patients what to eat. The moment they are well, this “havoc” starts.

We know that our herbal teas are not good tasting — note, these are natural stuff without any pleasant tasting additives. Many patients give up taking our teas after they get well.

Yes, RR wants to live. And in this story, we know she gets to live well. Some patients want to get well on their own terms.

I also salute RR’s son. He came on behalf of his mother who is in Jakarta. He knows in detail what happened to his mother and he came well prepared with all her medical reports and scan. He is a polite well-mannered son. In our conversation, he did not ask unnecessary questions. He presented us with her mother’s problem and accepted our prescriptions and went home with much hope and expectation.

In all, good things happened because neither the mother nor the son are kiasus. RR “earned” her healing through her commitment.